June 7, 2017 archive

Oil prices plunged to their lowest level in nearly a month on Wednesday after data revealed that domestic crude stockpiles unexpectedly rose, according to Bloomberg MarketWatch. On the New York Mercantile Exchange, July West Texas Intermediate crude fell $2.47, or 5.1%, to settle at $45.72 a barrel, marking its lowest finish since May 4. On the …

Oklahoma U.S. Rep. Steve Russell says the EPA selected Oklahoma City to receive $500,000 to help continue its work cleaning up contaminated brownfield properties. “Ultimately, actions such as these help us to be good stewards of the environment and can even save money before a situation becomes worse,” said Russell in making the announcement. Brownfields …

Oklahoma Attorney General Mike Hunter is one of 16 Republican attorneys general urging the President and Congress to pass a law saying no federal agency regulations are enforceable in federal courts. They sent a letter to President Trump recently and released it this week saying they have been involved in litigation against federal agencies based …

It was in the 1967 movie “The Graduate” when Mr. McGuire told Ben (Dustin Hoffman), “Plastics—-there’s a great future in plastics, Think about it. Will you think about it?” Executives at Dow Chemical apparently took the advice. Construction’s wrapped up on a new Dow Chemical plastics plant south of Houston. The Company announced this …

No word yet how this might affect the state of Oklahoma, but the EPA this week notified governors that it’s delaying for another year any decision on which areas of the U.S. don’t meet the 2015 ozone standards. Letters were sent to Gov. Mary Fallin and others from EPA Chief Scott Pruitt who said he needs …

Tulsa-based SemGroup Corporation has announced a $2 billion acquisition of one of the largest oil terminals in the U.S. The company executed an agreement to buy Houston Fuel Oil Terminal Company from investment funds managed by Alinda Capital Partners. It’s a purchase that establishes SemGroup in the premier energy market—-the Houston Ship Channel. The terminal …

Things were so bumpy Tuesday for EPA Administrator Scott Pruitt during an interview on MSNBC’s “Morning Joe” program, you couldn’t blame him to still be smarting over the appearance. He was repeatedly interrupted by the hosts including Joe Scarborough who demanded a ‘yes or no’ answer from Pruitt to the question whether he had discussed …

Environmental Protection Agency chief Scott Pruitt is beginning to get a taste of the kind of legal action he brought against the EPA when he was Oklahoma Attorney General. A coalition of seven Democratic attorneys general filed a legal challenge this week of the EPA’s decision to delay new safety rules on a common pesticide …